Rustic Chivalry
by regertz
Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…
1. Chapter 1

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the  
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part I…

LA…

Reasonably comfy condo home of one William Soames Walthrop, junior partner of Angel, Gunn, Burkle-Wyndham-Price, and Walthrop, the LA law firm and investigative corporation recently resurrected from the ashes of the collapsed Wolfram-Hart, Inc, resouled (therefore by his lights, human…Humanish?...) vampire and his adopted son, William Jr…

This evening…

The said Mr. Walthrop presently preparing for his side career as part-time…Classes on Shakespeare and Comparative Literature, Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 6-7 pm and 7:30-9pm…literature professor for one of LA's community colleges…Ersatz "credentials" for which had been supplied by his firm with the reluctant approval…"Spike, this is pushing our influence and crossing the line multiple times"…of CEO Liam Angel… Though urged… "Either we give him something to keep him busy on the outside when not fighting Evil or he starts trying to actually run something day-to-day here"… by senior partner Charles Gunn…

While also preparing and serving his toddler son's dinner…A task he relished to the extent of refusing either paid or, excepting exceptional occasions (and fervent pleas to take lil' Will for one night), the volunteer help of his colleagues, Dr. Winifred Illyria Burkle-Wyndham-Price, Mrs. Nina Angel, and the company's executive secretary, Ms. Harmony Kendall…

A polite knock…He frowned at the mashed peas now gracing his kitchen wall and with reproving glance to his delighted namesake and heir, currently comfortably secured on his high-chair throne, went to the door…Peering through keyhole…With the result that his frown reached serious proportions…

"Not at home or after hours, friend…See us at the office, the former Wolfram-Hart building, former Wolfram-Hart Plaza…" he called…

The knock was politely repeated…Will Jr. looking over attentively…

"Someone I met in Italy a few years ago…" Will shook his head at the toddler who smiled contentedly… "I'd best…" sigh… "…call for back-up…Sorry, lad…Dinner's temporarily on hold…As if that would bother you…" he pulled out his cell phone as the knock was, again quite politely, repeated…Will Jr. inquisitively eyeing the front door…

An Italian-accented voice calling… "Signore Walthrop, we know you are at home…Please to open youra door or we will do it for you…"

"You'll like this fellow…" Will addressed the boy… "Very odd little character…Though if he breaks that door down, he's paying every nickel of the replacement…Harmony?...Yes, it's me…Is Angel?...Oh…Well, is Charlie or Lyri available?...I've a situation here…"

The door was slammed open by a massive weight applied at force…In the form of a large, hulking, slobbering green creature…Behind him or her, several others, two demonic, three human or humanish…Behind them the source of the Italian-accented voice, a greasy-looking grey-skinned fellow in tuxedo…

"Harmony, just send anyone available…Tell him Will Jr is with me and…Harmony?..."

"Harmony?..." he eyed the phone…

Well, while I appreciate the enthusiasm of the response…A testament to her restored soul's general goodness where little ones are concerned…Might have been nice if she'd confirmed where I was…

"Signore…" the little grey-skinned creature stepped forward, though maintaining a cordon of guards… "What a pleasure to meet you again…For me at least…"

"The feeling will be mutual after I tear your head off…Though first you'll be paying for that door…" William eyed the demon…

"I think you ought to consider the consequences for your bambino there…" the demon smiled at Will Jr… "It is never a good thing for one so young to witness the a…graphic violencia…Or experience it…"

"A fellow of your connections in the underworld must have heard of what happens to those types who've dared involve my son in these affairs…" Will said, calmly…

"Your reputation remains as impressive as ever, signore…"

"So…How's Rome…And the Immortal…"

"Both still in the same physical space, signore…And well, so far as I know…But, as I once told you and your rather depressed friend, I don't have the privilege of working for his Benevolence…"

"So you said…So we didn't believe…Especially after the capo turned up in LA…"

"Business transaction, signore…The Immortal made a an offer which we couldn't refuse…Literally…"

"Uh-huh…Yet you wind up on my doorstep, not his…What, did Buffy decide I needed a lesson in manners or something for not congratulating her on her new boyfriend?...How is that going by the way…?"

"His Benevolence acted in your name in a thoroughly honorable manner…And his offer while involving the threat of considerable personal violence included honorable compensation…"

"Really?...So…I am a junior partner in what's left of the carcass of Wolfram Hart…What's honorable compensation running these days, given I'd prefer to end this quick so my son can finish his dinner in peace?...I take it you're asking for money…"

"Ah…" the little demon sighed… "Normally, Signore…Money would be the solution to alla problems…However…" he shrugged… "In this case, my honor is at stake…" Grin... "Though to be honest, sufficient money could reconcile me to the loss of a little honor…But…You have also put the honor of my clan at stake…Meaning you have put my life or whatever I should choose to call my current form of existence…" he grinned slightly…

Will rolled eyes…

"…ata stake…" wider grin...

"I think I have trouble seeing why you don't focus your attentions on the one who secured the capo…Or did Buffy kick your butt and tell you to come bother me instead?..."

"Sadly…It seems she and His Benevolence were in fact not the couple rumor had them…" the demon eyed Spike's expression…

"It came as much a shock to me, Signore…That any woman would fail to appreciate the glory and honor such a relationship offered her…"

"Well…" Will put up a hand… "Doesn't matter, even if I believe you…But why me?..."

"You benefitted from the Immortal's honorable act in recovering the capo…At my expense…Therefore, by the laws and traditions of my ancient and honorable clan, I am obliged to seek revenge from those for whom the act against us was carried out…"

"Sounds like typical demonic or European logic…Took your time about it, mate…"

"Toa quote the Klingons 'Revenge isa dish best serveda cold'…Like a good antipasto…Besides…" the demon sighed… "Have you ever dealt with Italian bureaucracy, Signore?...My own passport and visa took two years alone…And considerable moneys…To resolve…Let alone my comrades…"

"And no chance...money…?"

"Regrettably…For I would gladly take money…No, Signore…Not to mention, given the way you and Signore Angel have driven what was once a mighty global corporation into a concrete wall, I must doubt you could offer what I would ask in recompense…"

"A temporary bump owing to reorganization…Our focus is after all on converting the company into an instrument of good…"

"Howa…Laudable…" the little demon, sarcastically… "But not much of an instrument left to you now…The vultures are picking at youra bones…"

"So it's a fight to the death, then…" Will smiled benevolently… "Well, if we must to spare your honor…Shall we step outside…?"

"Mr. Walthrop…I remain Italiano…" the little demon eyed him…Spreading hands… "Not stupido…"

"Right…" William sighed…

"I have secured a proxy as you say…Or would if you understooda the slightest thing about business…"

"A second?..."

"Yes…" the little demon nodded, pleased to see a spark of intelligence at last… "At no little expense, though shared among my vengeful relations…" he smiled…

"It isa interesting to see how resourceful we evil ones can be when the issue is personal…None of your enemies would normally ever taken such risks or put such effort into the mission…But, when the honor of a family clan is…"

Will frowned at him…

"…concerned…" slight grin… "The impossibla, becomes possiblea…"

"Oh…" Will looked about… "Something special?..."

"Oh, very, sir…" the little demon, contentedly smug… "In fact I musta say…As a vengeance, this one truly is a work of art…"

Vengeance…Will frowned again…Oh, Lord…

"You didn't go and find a way to revive Halfreck, did you?..."

"Who, Signore?…Oh…Yes, the one who helped condemna you to an unliving death… uh, no…" he beamed… "A far superior instrument…Ah, Signore…" he raised fingertips to lips, a light kiss…To Will's startled surprise, dancing a little jig in his spot…"Pardon, Signore…The irony of a this one just overwhelms me…"

"Glad to know you'll die happy…But what was that about Haly?...Condemned me, you say?...As in having a role in my death in 1880?..."

"Si...As in croakina you…A fine job of it, too…" the demon grinned…

"So, she was Cicely…" Will nodded thoughtfully… "But why me…"

"She was, but only for one night…As for your other question…I fear that you will have to seek the answers in the next world…Guido, Giuseppe!…Bring our tool of vendetta…"

"Not in here, mate…" Will growled… "I'll gladly dance with your friend but not in sight of the lad…"

The little demon sighed…

"Ah, Signore, of course I understand…However, I should inform you I mean to kill your son before your eyes just before my instrument of vengeance destroys you…So…I think we will do our business right here…"

Will advanced on the demon who retreated behind his guards…Will grabbing the lead guard and struggling to move it aside…The hulking figure eyeing him calmly, unruffled…

Angry cries in Italian from the hall…No…Will pondered…Italian and …Yes, Latin…And English, too…In fact…He blinked…

Some Californian…

In the doorway, the other guards parting to let her through…Buffy…Face angry and red with an insane rage…Eyes black…Literally black including the whites…In rather fashionable Italian dress complete with shoes that looked rather like they'd cost the equivalent of the demon leader's "honorable compensation…"

"Buffy?…" Will stared…Glaring at the smugly smiling demon leader…

Heh, heh…Nota bad, eh?...

"Vendetta!..." Buffy screamed, her face distorted…

"Oh, Lord…" Will sighed…  
***

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the  
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part II…

A rather wild-and-black-even-to-the-whites-of-her-eyes-eyed Buffy stood in William's doorway, trembling with what appeared to be an insane rage, barely restrained apparently, almost certainly in some way under the control of the little grey-skinned Italian demon who seemed to be in charge of the group disturbing the Walthrop household this formerly pleasant evening …Though dressed in quite the height of stylish Italian fashion, he'd noted…Stake in hand at her right side… While the little demon leader kept carefully to her rear in a cordon of his hulking demon guards…

Actually about the way I'd expected she'd reappear in my life, Will thought, sighing…

Though I'd assumed she'd be acting on some notion of Giles that I must have returned to Evil and be in league with Angel and Wolfram-Hart…

At least seems like she's being compelled in some way to kill me rather than choosing it for the "greater good"…

"Hello, Buffy…" he said… "Assuming it's really you and not some demon shapeshifter or the First gone solid, I take it you're not here of your own free will…?"

"Vendetta…" she murmured, trembling…Vicious hatred oozing from every pore…Black eyes rolling…

"Freea will?..." the little demon shook his head, scoffing tone… "Who has such a thing in this modern world where we are at the mercy of advertizing and the manipulation of the opinion?...But, si…As I indicated my people did prepare thea groundwork, so you say…"

"Mind control?..." Tole Angel we should've tried that… "Or…"

"A littlea this, a littlea that…" the demon shrugged… "Our clan has a special bonding ritual for new members for those who marry…A polite way of putting what usually amounts to slave trading…Into our family…To ensure new members will fulfill theira obligation to the sacred duty to protect our family from all threats and insults…"

"Marry?..." Will blinked…

"Well, ina this case, it was a bit of a shotgun wedding, as you say…Though the groom wasa long dead and the marriage quite an old one…And we combined it with an ancient Japanese curse…Did you ever here the legend of the Grudge, Signore…?"

"Dead groom?...You mean Angel?...Or did Captain America Riley try to massacre the wrong village of peasants in Central America and buy it?...The 'Grudge'?...I've heard of it…Something to do with a rage curse?..."

"No, no…Neither gentleman…And si, a rage curse…Which when pooled with our clan bonding ritual makes for a very enraged Slayer, no?..." he indicated Buffy… "She is merely waiting for me, the local clan leader, to makea the signal…"

"Vendetta…" Buffy muttered again, eyeing William with a deadly stare, then rolling eyes and glancing round the room…Eyes briefly resting on Will Jr who stared back at her a moment, then laughed with delight at the latest toy his father had clearly brought for his amusement…Cooing to her…

"But we shoulda have your son with us to enjoy the festivities at such a joyful reunion…" the grey-skinned demon made a nod to two of his guards…Will backing a bit to block them…

"Not a chance, boys…" One raised an arm with a large claw serving for a hand and reached for William's shoulder, its pincers spread…Will grabbed the arm and twisted the large demon round to face the other…

"Ah, your usual approach…" the demon leader sneered… "But I'm not in the mood for watching a wrestling match tonight…" he waved to the other guards, several of whom pulled guns…

"We both know, Signore, these weapons may not harm you…But…" the demon smiled at young Will in his chair…

"If you're going to kill him anyway…" William eyed him…Still holding the now groaning demon guard…Pain sensation being a slow motion process in his particular kind…in his grip…

"Well, Signore…There is the threat of death…And the actual fact…" the demon leader smiled… "And where there isa life, there isa hope…Even when really there isa no hope…Shoot the bambino if he doesn't step aside…" he told the gun-bearing guards…

"Alright…" Will stepped over to let a guard past…Turning to the still mumbling, still-wild-eyed Buffy…

"Buffy…Whatever this clown has done to you, you're the Greatest Slayer…For God's sake if you won't help me, help my son…" he appealed to her rage-filled face…

"You killed him…I will kill you…" she whispered… "You and all of yours…For mine…"

"Such a fine child…" the demon leader beamed at Will Jr as the todder was held up to him for inspection, still happily clinging to the demon guard who'd fetched him… "A pity, truly…Hey, bambino…" he wagged a finger at Will Jr…Who tugged at it, giggling…

"Killed who?..." Will eyed Buffy who'd returned to her mumbling, punctuated by cries for "vendetta"…No longer looking at him…

"Who did I kill of yours?..." he asked her… "They're deceiving you, Buffy…"

"Kill him, for the honor ofa your family, Cicely…" the demon leader called…

You likea this, bambino?…He jiggled a set of keys over Will Jr.'s head as the toddler gleefully watched and taking him from the demon guard, turned with him in his arms to face where Buffy was now full-throatedly howling and charging at William who'd taken defensive posture…

"See your papa playing with the inasanea, pretty lady?...Who'sa gonna win, eh?...Who?..." he put his head close to the happily giggling Will Jr., pointing to Will and Buffy…

"Sucha sweet boy…You know, Signore I can guess how difficult it isa to raise a child alone…" he called to Will as Will nimbly dodged Buffy's furious charge…

Thank God the ole Slayer tactical brain seems off-line as well…He thought…

Cicely?...The name hit him…What the…?

He lurched back just out of range of Buffy's mad stake swipe…Jumping back as she kicked out at him, screaming incoherently…

The guards massed near the door, blocking that way…He fell back across the living room…

"Buffy!..." he sharply called, having gained a moment's distance… "Enough of this non…!..."

He barely managed to avoid her flying stake which embedded itself in the living room wall…God…

"Damnit, Slayer…You are paying for this if he's too dead to…Pull yourself together…" he told the raging Buffy who abandoned the stake for another frantic charge…

"For my husband…For my daughter…" she murmured… "Vendetta, vendetta…"

"What husband?...What daughter?...They've lied to you, Buffy…Hell…" he found himself flying back and striking the living room wall as she tossed him…

Will Jr shrieking with delight at his dad's antics…The demon leader joining in, happily… "Papa, he go flying...Good, eh?...Hey, Guido?...You boys leave any of those nice cookies we had back in the van?...Bring the bambino and me a couple…"

Will had sprung back on his feet as Buffy looked about for a weapon to finish her accursed enemy off with…Pulling a moment at the embedded stake…

"Will you damned well get hold of yourse…" he began…Whoa…He backed away as she lifted his sofa…

"Buffy, stop womanhandling my personal property and tell me…What husband, what child?...And what's this about…" he ducked and rolled to the side as she hurled the sofa at him…Which struck the wall, stoving in a large area…

The demon leader chuckled with Will Jr… "Thea couch, she goesa fly, eh?…"

"I'll make you goa fly in a minute…" Will called…

"Buffy, tell me and maybe I'll let you kill me…" he addressed her…She paused, blinked at him…

"What?..." she said, rather startled apparently…The whites of her eyes suddenly returning white…Though her irises and pupils remained solid black…

The demon leader frowned…

"Tell me what husband and what daughter…If I did kill them, then I'll accept punishment…" Will eyed her… "So long as you promise to spare my boy…"

"Hey, hey…" the demon leader called… "This is vendetta, we no negotiate…Kill him now!..."

"Vendetta…" Buffy repeated, eyes completely black again…Hands twisting…

"Cicely…If I've wronged you, let my life be my amends…" he told her… "But first tell me who you are and how I killed your husband and daughter…I've no memory of ever attacking Cicely or her family…"

She calmed again, slightly…

Uh-oh…Several of the demon guards eyed each other…

"You must die…" she murmured… "You killed him…And me…And her…"

"Not to the best of my knowledge…Tell me, are you Cicely possessing Buffy?..." he asked…

I hada to be a dutiful member ofa my clan…The demon leader sighed...

"You are betraying your family honor…" he tried, addressing Buffy…A bit defeatedly…

Well, at least we still got the kid for a bargaining chip…He thought…And negotiation is the greatest skill of my clan…

"Ah, cookies…" he beamed at Guido, who'd brought the box of fine Italian sweet cookies…Taking out one and offering it to Will Jr. who beamed…

"Only one…" Will called… "Too much sugar is bad for him…" Still keeping a careful eye on Buffy as she hesitated, seeming to ponder his question…

"Si, only one…Here, bambino, a nice cookie for you…"

A crash behind caused all, including Buffy to turn…

"Will!...I'm here!..." Harmony's voice, calling from the hall…Accompanied by howls from several guards positioned there… "And the kid better be alright or I'll show you guy s why I was the vampiress who made men fear the night before I got my soul back!…"

She would steal my line…Will thought…

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part III…

The arrival of the cavalry in the form of souled vampiress/executive secretary Harmony Kendall had caused the demon leader to take stock of the deteriorating situation and order a retreat…

Using William's adopted son as human shield…Will reluctantly urging Harmony to stand down while trying to continue his effort to break whatever hold the Italian demonic clan had gained over Buffy…

She, however, now following the demon leader's order, was withdrawing with the rest…Though continuing to focus on William, muttering threats…

"Is that Buffy?...What's with her eyes?...Hey, Buffy!..." Harmony called as she reached William…The demon leader carefully backing away, with young Will secure in his arms, munching a sweet cookie and gurgling happily…Buffy in front of him in defensive mode alongside several hulking demon guards, all heavily armed…

"They've done something to her…Lord knows what…Listen, friend…Give me back my son and I'll consider letting you live…" Will calmly addressed the demon leader…

"Afraid not, signore…As Ia say…I am Italino, not stupido…Cicely, killa them both…Vendetta…"

"Vendetta…" Buffy repeated, eyes black…

"She's?..." Harmony eyed Will…

"Probably…" Will nodded… "But possessed or just profoundly pissed at my failure to show in Rome, she's flipped…Be careful…And…" he smiled at her…

"Thanks for coming…"

"For Willy…Anytime…" she grinned back…Buffy eyeing them both coldly…But clearly a bit puzzled by Harmony's arrival…And perhaps a bit peeved, in manner different from her vengeance drive…

"Cicelya…You are committing a great sin against your honor…" the demon leader called as he backed away down the hall leaving Buffy and three rather glum-looking guards to hold the two vampires off… "Guido!...Hey!...Get the van ready!...Signore, if you live, we settle this later…During your son's sacrifice to our family gods, eh?...Guido!...Movea your ass!..." he backed hurriedly down the hall, Will Jr. cooing happily in his arms…The glum guards left behind quickly seizing the chance to make their own retreat, leaving Buffy alone, facing the two…

"Cicely?..." Harmony asked… "Hey, was she the girl who Dru was always going on about?...The one she feared above all things…?"

"Dru…Silla…" Buffy murmured…Looking about as if for Dru… "Vendetta…"

"Dru talked to you about Cicely?..." Will stared at Harmony while both kept careful eye on Buffy…Who, currently stakeless, was holding a defensive posture…

"God, she never shut up about her…" Harm sighed… "But didn't Cicely love you?...Or was it you loved her?...I never could make it out when Dru started shivering and crying that She…Capital S…Was coming one day for her…"

"Drusilla…" Buffy repeated… "She must die…Where is she?...Vendetta…" Her fists clenching…

"Technically she's already dead, Buffy…So, problem solved…" Harmony tried…

"You are with him…Tell me where Drusilla is…Or…" Buffy tensed…

"You got me…" Harmony shrugged… "Haven't seen her since I went to work for Angel…"

"Angel…Angelus must die…" Buffy eyed William…Pointing with jabbing finger… "He must die…"

Wait…William sighed…

Lord, that is low…

"You think I'm Angel?..."

Harmony struggled to repress a giggle…

"Angelus made Drusilla…Drusilla killed him…He must die…Vendetta…" Buffy replied… "You…Will…Die…" she tensed for a charge…

"This is William…The Bloody…" Harmony shook her head, chuckling now… "God, now you've got me picturing the Boss with blonde hair…Ha, ha, ha…"

"William…?" Buffy looked over at Will, then Harmony… "William?...The Bloody?..."

"Resouled William…And I prefer Soames Walthrop for the rest of it…I think I've earnt it…The hardest way…" he frowned…

"No offense, Will…" Harmony, sheepishly…

"None taken, Ms. Kendall…"

"William the Bloody…Vampire…Spawn of Drusilla…" Buffy murmured… "He too must die…"

Well, so much for hoping we'd found a ticket off this merry-go-round, he thought…

"Buffy, why do you want to kill William?...Granted, I might have good reason…" Harmony gave Will a narrow look… "But you loved him…Or at least beat him, used him for sex, and let him sacrifice himself for you…"

"Thanks…" Will frowned…

"Don't mention it…" Harmony grinned… "Well, Buffy?..." she eyed the tense, muttering Slayer…

Tense, muttering Slayer in very nice Italian threads… "Say, did you get that dress and those shoes in Rome?...Will?...We have an office still in Rome, don't we?..."

"He is spawn of her who killed him and sent me and mine to the grave…" Buffy replied… "I must kill them all…"

"Ah…Angelus clan thing…So that's it…Will, she must be possessed…"

"Cicely'd not give a damn about Angel or Dru…" Will frowned… "She drove me away…Or rather…" he pondered…

"No she didn't…" Harmony eyed him… "At least not from what Dru told me…And Drusilla didn't fear a mere human…"

"What?..." he blinked at her…As Buffy suddenly saw a chance at his distraction and charged…Harmony crying out to him…

"Now this…" Angel beamed at his beloved wife, Nina, and his wonderful son, Connor, as they sat in one of LA's tonier restaurants…Connor frowning as he tugged at his collar and tie… "Is what I save the world for…" he winked at Connor…Nina regarding him wryly…Liam…

"To pay these prices for three meals that wouldn't add up to my normal afternoon snack at school?..." Connor frowned at his plate…Definitely a stop at KFC after this one was called for…

"It's all part of being a mover and shaker…" Nina said dryly… "And you certainly managed that, honey…We're lucky there's enough left of Wolfram-Hart to pay for this…"

"Guys…" he sighed…Grinning at them… "Is this the thanks I get?..."

"At least the wine doesn't suck…" Nina took a pull at her glass… "But I'll want at least two more glasses before this evening's done…And something remotely edible…"

"Amen…" Connor clinked glass to hers…

"There be many a folk in the ole sod who'd be grateful…Especially since 2008…To be dining on such grub…" Angel, mock solemn…

"They'd be calling for a burger…And cursin' the damned fool who'd tried to feed them on a bit of weed and whatever this fish is…" Nina poked at her plate…

"You really don't like it?..." Angel sighed at both…Looking a bit downcast…

"Well…" Nina sighed… "I do like the wine…And no more for you, Connor…I mean that…"

"The band's not bad…" Connor conceded… "Dad?..."

"Mind your mother…" Angel eyed him… "I just wanted to have a fancy night out with you guys…I thought you deserved that…"

"It's great…" Nina sighed… "Right, Connor?..."

"Yeah…" Connor agreed, likewise sighing…

"Then…If we were to get the hell outta here and find a nice diner…?"

"Now there's the bog-trotting peasant I married…" Nina grinned…

"Ouch, Mom…" Connor grinned… "Darla couldn't have done meaner…"

"She eats Darlas for breakfast…Lets go…" Angel waved for the check…

"Mmmn…Mmmn…Let me finish the wine…" Nina put up a hand…

"There's Irish in her, lad…I sensed it from the first…" Angel grinned at Connor…

"Pa, you know Grandpa is gonna be pissed at these stereotypes…" Connor shook his head…

"It's your grandmother's wrath I'll be fearin'…" Angel replied…Pulling out his suddenly buzzing phone… "Yes, this is Mr. Angel…What?...Oh…" sigh… "I see…Did Ms. Kendall leave an address?..."

"Oh…No…" Nina frowned…Connor rolling eyes…

"If she or Mr. Walthrop calls, I'm on my way…" Angel closed the phone…

No…Nina sulked…Oh, crap…

"Trouble, Dad?...As if I didn't know…" Connor, wryly…

"Looks like it…Nina?..."

"What's Spike gone and gotten himself and Harmony into now?..." she frowned… "On your one night off…"

"Involves little Will, Harm told the service…" he replied, apologetic look…

Oh…She pulled out of sulk immediately, sitting up…

"Lets go…" Connor stood up…

Maybe this evening won't be a total loss at that…


	2. Chapter 2

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part IV…

Now it's true…William reflected…That in my Spikean demonic days I might well have relished being in this sort of a position…

"Ahhhh!..." Buffy cried…Jerking violently to try and toss the vampire currently on her back…

…No doubt Harris would insist "on her back…as always" Will noted, clinging tight as Harmony attempted to distract Buffy, dodging round her front…

…Off and into the hallway wall…

"Buffy!...I want you to calm…"

Whoa…He found himself crashing to the ground but still held tight…Harmony staring at the rolling ball of Slayer and vampire…

"Buffy!..." she tried… "You're gonna hurt yourself and the guy who fried for you!…As your resouled classmate…!"

Wham…Buffy had given up on the rolling attempt and now slammed herself and her passenger against the hallway wall…

"Hey!..." Harmony cried… "Watch it!...There could be wood in that wall…"

"I think that's her…" Will began, cut off as Buffy slammed backwards again…

"Ven…" Buffy's harsh scream of triumph was in turn cut off as Harm jumped her in front…Taking face and sinking fangs…William barely holding on to the Slayer as she howled in pain, quivering…Finally managing to toss Harmony off…

Harmony, face bloodied with Slayer's blood, struggling to rise quickly as Buffy staggered, Will still managing to hang on…

"Buffy, I'm sorry…But..." Harmony began…

Buffy staring at her, blood running down her stylish Italian blouse…Eyes returning to white, though irises still black as the pupils…

"You…You…"

"It's all right…" Harmony spread hands in a peaceful gesture… "I'm souled…I won't turn you…I just…"

Will carefully released his grip as Buffy kept her focus on the female vampire…

Will…Harm hissed…Nodding for him to come over to her…

He however frowning now…

"What?..."

"You bit her…?" his face angry…Buffy turning back now…

"What else could I do?...She was gonna croak you in a sec…" Harmony glared back….

"William?..." Buffy stared at him over her shoulder…Weaving a little where she stood… "I don't feel very…" she collapsed…He came to stand over her as she writhed a bit on the hallway floor…Moaning…

"Look what you did…!" he looked up at Harmony who blinked, then glared again…Hey?...

"I just saved your Unlife, jerk…" she snapped… "God, always the way…I do the doormat for you, story of my Unlife, and you treat me like…"

"You bit her…" he replied, accusing… "Look at her!..."

"She'll be fine…Moron…You think I don't know how much to take safely…?"

"In her condition, how would you know?..."

"Sorry I didn't let her kill you!..." Harmony stamped a foot…Then calmed…

More important matters than the usual abuse of one Kendall…At least for Harmony Kendall, noble resouled champion of good…

"Will, we've gotta get after them…!" she looked down the hall…

"We will, we will…Help me with her, c'mon…" he indicated the fallen, bloodied Slayer…Now more or less unconscious…

They gingerly lifted her together, Harmony taking the arms, Will the legs…She twisted feebly in their grip but made no further effort…

"She'll be ok…" Harmony insisted as they carried her into Will's apartment, he indicating they should lay her on the sofa… "Maybe we should get a trash bag or some plastic for the blood?..." she eyed his annoyed face…Fine… "Will, I only took enough to calm her down…It takes the edge off…" They set her down…

"What?..." Will stared at her… "You read that in some eighteenth century medical manual about bleeding…?"

She eyed him…

"Pardon me…" he bowed slightly… "In some modern demonic journal about diabolic medicine?..."

"Thanks for not confusing me with Drusilla…" she noted, brittily…

"….William…William…" Buffy moaned softly…

"Sweetheart, I'm here…" he bent over…Harmony eyeing him…

God…She smiled at him wanly…

Lucky for my recently acquired soul that the love of my life is named Cordelia…Or I might be dangerously tempted to take just a little more…And too much…

"…ven…detta…" Buffy gasped…

"Certainly, if you want, dear…" he nodded, holding her limp hand in his…

"Just name the victim…"

"He said…" she whispered, looking at him…

"Will…" Harmony tried to cut in…Oh-oh…

"…Said what, darling?..."

"Will…I think…" Harm tried…

"…you…must die!..." Buffy, eyes darkening again…She grabbed Will by the throat and hurled him back against the wall to her left…Rising suddenly as if pulled to her feet by strings…

"I tried to tell you!..." Harm cried to him as he staggered to his feet… "Her eyes were going again…Maybe I should try and take a little mo..."

Whoa…

Buffy had whirled to face her…Eyes black again and nostrils flairing… "You…"

"You can thank me for saving your boyfriend later…" Harmony replied…

Buffy stopped, blinking…

Boy…?

"Boyfriend?..." she whispered, staring at Harmony…

"I've made no claims on you, Buf…" Will interjected from where he was cautiously moving in again…Harmony glaring at the moron who seemed bent on Undying in his beloved's grip… Not the time to weaken those emotional bonds, you idiot!...

"Even more, eh loverboy…?" Harmony looked over to William… "You don't wanna hurt the one guy who keeps on coming, do you, Slayer?..."

"Not to mention passes on beautiful and gainfully employed fellow vampires, even when you abandoned him for dead and he'd earned infinite brownie points by dying for you and the world, sorta…"

Buffy, wobbling on her feet, stared…

Hmmn…Harm thought…

Well, may as well give it a whirl…

"Be in my eyes, Slayer…"

Will rolling his…Oh, please…

Buffy frowning now…Hey…

"Save…" she paused, seeming to search for words… "Save for…Tourists…" she said…

Harm eyeing Will…Well, some progress…

"William…?" Buffy looked over at him again…

"Yeah…" he smiled at her puzzled, angry yet, face…

"Guys?...Harmony?..." Angel's booming call… "Spike, what's up with…Buffy…?" the newly arrived Angel stared at the scene…

"You…" Buffy stared at him as he looked at her darkening face…

Return to Top

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part V…

"Buffy?..." Angel gave a puzzled stare at her darkly furious, black-eyed look…

"Angel…I wouldn't…" Harmony began…

"Jesus!..." a newly arrived Nina cried as Buffy lept at an Angel still trying to comprehend…

"Buffy!..." Will tried to pull her loose from the downed Angel…

"Angelus…Murderer!...Vendetta!..." Buffy howled…

"Holy shit…" Connor gasped as he entered the hallway from the elevator…His dad on the ground, a furious blonde girl pummeling him savagely…His now increasingly furious stepmom grabbing her by the throat…William with arms round the blonde…That pretty hot Ms. Summers he recognized from the rather carefully selected and limited, with an eye to Mom's feelings, photos in Dad's study… Trying to pull her off…Harmony standing by the group, sighing and trying to get someone, anyone to calm down and… "Hey, Connor…" she waved… "Look, give me a hand here, will ya?.."

He looked for some place to intervene as the collective group thrashed about…Ms. Summers howling cries apparently focused on Dad for some bizarre reason…Mom now crying out at said Ms. Summers to "Back off, you crazy bitch…"…William demanding everyone back off and leave Buffy to him…Dad simply trying fend off Ms. Summers' flailing fists and kicks…

"Angelus!..." she screamed…

"What'll we do?..." Connor called over the writhing mass to Harmony…

"Try and pull your dad out… Will!...Let me have Buffy's…" Whoa…She went flying back at a kick from the Slayer…

Connor grabbed at an arm he presumed was his father's…

"Connor!...Get back!..." Nina cried, looking up at him…

"Buffy, for God's sake…" Will had pulled her back a bit… "Look at me…" he turned her head… "Harmony!..." he called…She stumbled over…

"Tell her to calm down!..." he turned to her…

Buffy jerked in his grip, whanging him…He held tight and both rolled over…She losing her grip on Angel, Nina releasing hers…

"God, what's wrong with her?..." Connor asked, hurrying to his battered father whom he helped to his feet…Nina quickly moving to block Angel from any more attacks…Glaring at Buffy on the ground…

Mom…Connor urged… Calm place…

Right…She nodded…But kept a grim eye on the Slayer…

"Some kind of vengeance curse and mating ritual…" Harmony explained...Kneeling by Buffy now…Who had suddenly calmed, staring at William…

"William?...You're…Here?..." Buffy gasped… "With me?..."

"Yes, pet…" he nodded, patting her… "I'm right here…"

"Where's Angelus?...I…"

"Dead…" Harmony quickly announced, glancing up to eye Angel and the others…Ixnay you should scramay, for now…

"Hall…" she hissed, indicating the door to the hallway…They taking the hint, headed out…

"Dead?..." Buffy looked at William…

Well, certainly not a lie…Harmony thought, rather pleased with her quick thinking…

Buffy shook a moment… "Vendetta…" she gasped and passed out…

Phew…Harmony looked at William who sighed and nodded…She's out…For now…

"Maybe that was it?..." she suggested… "Mission Vendetta accomplished, ends the spell or whatever?..."

"Maybe…I don't know…" he shook his head… "Help me get her back on the sofa…"

"We've gotta get after Will Jr…." Harmony noted…

"I know…But, a moment…I don't think they'll do anything without me there to see…" he motioned for her to help lift the unconscious Slayer, who now seemed rather peacefully sleeping…They placed her on the sofa…Looking to see Connor cautiously poking head into the room…

"All clear?..." he asked…

"Maybe…Best to wait a bit until we know what we're up against here…" Will replied… "Have your parents wait just a second and I'll be right out…"

"Connor!..." Nina's voice… He pulled back…

"Looks like she switched the focus to Angel somehow…" Harmony noted…

"Yeah…" Will nodded… "Though why he would be involved unless Buffy's a bit pissed at him somewhere…"

"She didn't get on with Angelus, I imagine…"

"No, true enough…" he nodded… "But she seemed even angrier at him than me…"

"They were a couple a while…Resentments pile up…" Harmony noted… "Maybe this 'vendetta' thing feeds off normal resentment and anger…"

"Could be…Lucky for me, it's not you who's been cursed, then…" he smiled wanly at her…She giving arch grin and nod…You better believe it, pal…

"Will?..." Angel had come to the door…

"She's ok for now, Angel…" Will stood up…Moving to the door… "Best not to come in for a mo…She might get set off again…"

"Is it some kind of hate-your-exs spell?..." Angel eyed him…Will shrugging… God and a certain Italian demon know…

"She keeps mumbling about vendettas…And the demon leader was that little Italian creep who tried to blow us up in Rome…He's used some kind of family curse on her…Mentioned a mating ritual…"

"Mating?..." Angel blinked…Nina at his side, looking past him into the room…

"He said the mate was long dead… Though we'll kill him slow if rape is involved here…" William said quietly…

"Without question…" Angel, grimly… Connor beside him now…Peering in…

"Is she all right, Harmony?..." Nina eyed her…

"Near as I can tell, yeah…" Harmony nodded… "But we have to get after Will Jr…"

"They took him…" Will explained…

"And they're gonna sacrifice him…" Harmony frowned… "So lets stop wasting time…"

"They won't until I show…There'd be no revenge without me…" Will shook his head…

"If they took Buffy in Rome…" Angel eyed Will…

"He denied working for the Immortal again…But he didn't say the Immortal wasn't involved…" Will nodded…

"Still, lets not get sidetracked by memories of old foes...We were wrong about him before…"

"Or thought we were…She called me Angelus…" Angel frowned… "Did she think I'd reverted…?"

"He called her Cicely…" Will eyed him…

"Your Cicely?..." Angel blinked… "That girl Spike used to go on about?..."

"That one…Yeah…And she seemed…"

"Cicely was a Slayer…" Harmony cut in… The two turned, staring at her…Nina and Connor as well…

Buffy startling all by a sudden loud snore from the sofa…

London, England…

Six months before…

"I don't know about this, Ms. Summers…" worried tone…Nervous shifting of prinz nez glasses on nose…

"Harry…I am Slayer Counselor-General, right?...And Commandant of the Slayer Corps, right?..." stern look…

"Yes, ma'am…"

"And I have saved the world, as well as our Council, quite a few times, right?..."

"Uh, of course, Ms. Summers…But…" the addressed young Counselor shifted uneasily in his chair as the slight but imposing blonde figure in her red "power" suit, lovingly saved from Sunnydale's demise and worn only at important Council functions eyed him from where she stood in the corridor before his desk…Blocking what purported to be a rather dull little staff library, of interest only to a few fossilized members of the rather quaintly titled Royal Council of Antiquarians and Library Scientists…

"So I should have high enough level clearance to visit the Council archives when I choose to, shouldn't I?..."

"Well…Ma'am…Chairman Giles is really the only person authorized to allow…"

She sighed…

"Harry…Would I come without Rupert's ok?...How would I even know about this place, the way you've kept it such a secret from everyone…" winning smile which brought a slight one to his lips… "…unless he'd ok'd my coming…It's important…And kinda top secret…" she winked…Smiling…

"If you could just show me some official authorization…I've had no word…"

"We have met at the Council, right?...You told me how much you admired my work?..."

"Certainly…But…"

"Ok…" she sighed… "I understand…Security…And you were once MI-whatever, right?..."

"5, ma'am…Yes…"

"Fine…Lets get Giles on the phone…Will that satisfy?..."

"Certainly…If we use the secure phone…In the entrance airlock…"

"Great…" she nodded… "Lets do that…"

He sighed but pulled out a key, rose and went to the door behind his desk…She following…He unlocked the old-style lock and opened what seemed an ordinary if rather nineteenth century door…

Not noticing the icy, furious look she gave at his back as he did so…Her smile warm as ever when he turned back to her…

Had she muttered something under her breath?...He pondered…

Well?...Her look, still complete with smile, said… "Harry?...Shall we?..."

He opened the door and stepped in, she following, closing door after them…

The door had opened to a room which though wide as it looked from outside, was only about a foot in depth, with an excellent three-dimensional projection of books and shelves on the wall before them…

"Careful…" he cautioned her… "The starting drop is a bit of a…" The floor beneath them fell suddenly…Then halted with a jerk, twenty floors down…

A door before them opened at Harry's touch…They entered a long tunnel…Buffy hurrying after Harry, keeping just behind him…He paused before a blank panel on the tunnel wall to his right…Placing hand on the panel which lit up…

"Just a mo, I'll be in…" he choked as she grabbed him by the neck…

"Watcher…Murderer…Vendetta…" she whispered…Staring at his terrified look as he stared at her entirely black eyes…Pressing on his neck until he passed out, then replacing his hand on another area of the panel…From a pocket she pulled out what looked like a portable radio and put the earphones on, carefully tuning…

"Fratelli, compagni…" she whispered… "Vendetta…Cosa devo fare?... Io mi trovo in archivio tunnel…"

"Si…" she replied to the instructions given…Still holding the hapless Harry's hand to the panel…Now tapping a series of instructions using various pads on the lit panel…

The tunnel seemed to move…A sensation of high speed…Then calm… The far end of the tunnel suddenly opening to reveal a vast complex…She removed the earphones and put the radio and earphones back in her pocket…Tossing Harry without a glance after him to the side, she headed to the complex entrance…Miles of hallway before her stretching on both sides to what seemed infinity…She immediately focusing on a single aisle…

"William…I'm here…" she whispered, staring round… "I've come at last to find you, my beloved…And then…Take our revenge…"

"What's that?..." Harmony glanced at the book William had just pulled from Buffy's stylish Italian purse, carefully lifting it without disturbing her sleep…An old, worn but well-bound volume which William handled gingerly…

"The Complete Works of…Oh, my God…" Harmony gasped…Looking at William…Who shook his head…Turning pages…Staring frozen at one…

"What's that?..." Connor had, much against Nina's wishes, slipped back in, arguing he, being unfamiliar to Ms. Summers, was probably the better member of the family to check on her…Mom being perhaps dangerously near transformational anger at Buffy…

"It's Will's…" Harmony looked at William who still stared at the page…

"Will?..." Connor eyed him… "What's…"

"You said Cicely was a Slayer?..." Will looked at Harmony… "Dru was sure of that?..."

"That's what she said…And why she was terrified of her…" Harmony nodded…"Though why she was terrified of a century-dead Slayer..."

He handed the book over…Indicating the page he'd been regarding…

Whoa…Harmony blinked…Connor peering over her shoulder…

"What is it?..." Angel called from the doorway from which Nina steadfastly refused to let him budge…Blocking it solidly now…Bad enough Connor had slipped away…

"It's from Cicely…Dedicated…To me…" Will replied quietly…

"In 1880…The year you died…" Harmony noted…

"They lied to us, William…" Buffy's voice, quiet but firm from the sofa… "And they murdered us…And our baby…"

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part VI…

"Well, can't I even see her?..." Angel fumed…Nina patting his arm, forebearing expression…We above such petty things as blind jealousy here…For the moment and as long as Summers is crazy and Will Jr's in danger…

Though afterward, if he doesn't simply wish Will and Buffy happiness and a long relationship far from us…The weregirl may out…

"Will thinks it's best you don't for now…She did say she was sorry to have lost it with you…Apparently some part of her now blames you for everything…" Harmony explained… The group standing in the hallway outside Will's apartment…Inside which things seemed to have quieted for the moment…

"What?..." he exploded…Nina as well losing her forebearant posture…That lil'…

"Listen, Harmony…" Nina, red-faced…Ummn, dear?...Angel looked at her… "You tell that crazy, self-righteous little…Her boyfriend is William the Bloody and …"

"Nina…I'm sure Buffy meant no harm…She can't help herself just…" Angel tried…

"Oh, she seems much calmer now…It's just that Angel caused the death of her husband, baby, and her previous self by creating Drusilla…He was actually the root focus of the vendetta thing, they just managed to diffuse her rage onto any vampire, including William until she finally recognized him…It's just luck they wanted William dead first, not you, Angel…With you she'd probably have been utterly unstop…"

"Thanks, Harmony…" Angel sighed…Interposing himself between her and the now unstoppably raging Nina… "That's all for now…Why don't you go see how Buffy is and have Connor come back and let us know…I'll see if I can get our people on the trail as to Will Jr…"

"Arrrgghhh….Grrr…" Nina growled, face distorting…

"Really Harm, go…" Angel pointed… "Now?..."

"Right…I'll have Connor let you guys know…" she hurried back into the apartment…

"Sweetheart?...Really not the time and place…" Angel patted the partly-starting-to-transform Nina…Who calmed at his touch… "Though I really appreciate the sentiment…"

"Tell them to send Connor out…Or I swear I'm goin' all the way…" she hissed…Now nearly reverted…

"Sure…" he nodded… "But here he comes now.." As Connor emerged, looking perturbed…

"Everything ok, now?..."

"She seems a little better…" Connor nodded…Eyeing Nina who completed her reversion…

"Don't be upset, Mom…There's kinda a history here…"

"Your dad never killed any babies or…" she began…

Ummn…Angel gave a glum look…

Actually, in the physical sense…But completely without my participation in the spiritual sense…

"Well, looks like Angelus did have a role here…" Connor sighed… "No offense, dad…"

"I'd bet her demon would slaughter millions of kids…" Nina fumed… "And as for Spike…"

"Sweetheart…" Angel, plaintively…

A blue glow in the hall catching them by surprise…Two figures materializing…

"Hey, Angel!..."Willow in slacks and blouse, shawl on shoulders a bit uplifted by the air currents generated on arrival, beamed…Stumbling a bit… "Sorry…That was a long…"

"Where's my Mom and Dad?..." Dawn beside her in nightgown, sneakers, and open overcoat, insistent…

A few moments before…

Connor watching, standing by the sofa as William knelt, holding Buffy's hand…She lying on her back, head resting on sofa arm, sipping a glass of water Harmony had brought her…

"I wanted to know who you were…I had dreams…" Buffy looked at William… "I couldn't stop seeing you at Sunnydale…Even in the daytime I kept seeing you…Standing there, telling me 'No, you don't…'… 'No, you don't…'…I couldn't bear it…And I knew there was more…So I tried to get into the archives and Giles…"

London…One year ago…

"Buffy…"

"They tell me the records are intact…Caleb never reached this place…"

"True, but…" Giles sighed… "What would be the point of hunting for information on Spike?...He's dead and at peace…You did what you could for him…He died with his soul red…"

"And why did you try to kill him?..." she interrupted… "Post-soul, when he wasn't a monster…You never tried to kill him before, when he was William the Bloody…Even when the chip left him helpless, you never tried to kill him…Why then?..." she looked at him…

"You were involved, it was too dangerous…"

"I was involved before he got a soul…It wasn't too dangerous then…" she noted calmly but with hard stare… "If you think I shouldn't go prowling about the archives then tell me now…Why did you want a souled man dead?..."

"Man?..." Giles frowned…

"With a soul, he was a man again…Regardless of his physical differences…And you were ready to commit a murder…Why?...For my good?...For the Council's good?..."

"Buffy…The First had a hold over him…"

"And we…He and I…Broke it…With no help from you…No, Giles…You are keeping something from me…" she eyed him narrowly… "You've been lying to me about William for years, haven't you?..."

He sighed…

"I want access to the archives, Giles…I want everything we have on William…"

"Or else?..." he eyed her coolly…

"Or else…" she nodded…

"And still he refused…So I looked for a way in…And anything I could get on you…" Buffy frowned at Will… "And there you were, you jerk…Still kicking in LA all the time…That thing, Signore Leonato, approached me in London…Said he had access to information on you…And could even offer me a chance to see you again…That you were being kept from me…By the Council's order…"

"And you believed…That little grey…?" William stared at her…

"I didn't have any other choice…Willow wouldn't help me either and I suck at magics…I did try though…Séance things and all that…But…" she shrugged… "Great at killing, not so good with the hexing…And seancin'…"

Hmmn…That explains those episodes of vertigo I had over the past years…He thought…

"He gave me the book of your stuff…As proof he could deliver…And the minute I saw it…" she lifted the book to her cheek, pressed it… "…held it in my hands…I knew…Something…And had to know more, no matter what it cost…"

"And being an Italian demon he drove quite a bargain, eh?..."

"Seemed little enough at the time…I'd owe him a favor…"

"Oh, please…Buffy…" Harmony began…

Sorry…She sighed at the glares…

Geesh…Even I've seen 'The Godfather'…

"Lovely…But how did they get a hold on you magically?..." Will asked…

"Ceremony to make me remember…It worked but I guess they threw in a bit extra…"

"Like that mating ritual and the vendetta mind-control?..."

"Mating?..." she stared…

"That's what he…Out friend with the touch of grey…Skin…Called it…They use it to bind folks to the clan…Though he said something about your particular mate being long dead…" he added hastily at her rather anxious expression… "I don't think you've been demonically raped…Though we'd best check you out asap…"

"I didn't and don't care…" Buffy shook her head… "I had to know and at least now I know…He wasn't lying as to our past…It was there, in the archives…You, me, our baby…"

He blinked…

Baby?...

"They murdered us, Will…All because they didn't want me to leave…Wouldn't, couldn't let me quit…"

He rubbed his face…Staring…

"And you were a big help, abandoning me like that…" she frowned at him… "Poor Andrew Wells, I nearly took his head off when he told me he'd known all along you were alive in LA with Angel…I think Dawn'll never quite get over it…She was terrified, I was so outta my skull when I came to Rome and made him tell me…And that poor kid playing me…That actress…"

"What?..."

"God…It wasn't me in Rome, stupid…Giles and Andrew arranged cover for me and got that guy…The Immortal?...God, where'd he get that lack of imagination, anyway?...To agree to play along…" she sipped again… "They claimed it was for my protection…I was stupid enough to believe it…Until I found out it was to keep you away…Giles knew all along you were alive…He hoped you'd be killed with Angel by the Partners…"

William stared at her set face…

"Rupert never cared for me, true…And I could understand him fearing me back in your life…" he began…

"The Council knew all about us…Giles knew all about us…" she replied… "He had orders to terminate you…But only if you got the soul back…Or I recovered Cicely…You were too valuable to kill as Spike…Too useful to them…If you left the world your soul might leave and I might've followed…And they couldn't have that…No…They needed me to save the world for them when the First showed her head…And you, you idiot…Come to Rome and don't even stop to be sure I'm not love-spelled or some such crap?...On Andrew's say-so?..." she glared at him…

"Well…He was busy...We had a lot going on in…"Harmony tried…Withering a bit at Buffy's icy stare…

"Yeah…Leonato told me about what you had 'going on'…" Buffy said, fixing her…

"Yeah…That was my demon, you know?...Ummn…You're not gonna get all black eyed again?..." Harmony, nervous glance at Will…

"No, she won't…We've a job to do…" Will replied, eyeing Buffy…Who stared…

"Your little friend is about to sacrifice my son…" he noted…

"He what?..." Buffy sat up…

Thought she'd be more "son?...What…Son?..." and then start eyeing me and muttering to herself again…Harmony thought…

"You let him take our boy?..." Buffy fumed at a startled Will…

Uh…Well…Much as I appreciate…He began…

"For God's sake's shut up and lets go!..." she tried to get up…Hmmn…Seem to have left my legs with those black eyes Harmony keeps talking about…

"You'd best let us take care of this one, Buf…But I really appreciate…"

"1931…Hollywood?...Ring a bell?..." Buffy asked, locked stare…

Gee…Harmony looked at the two…Will blinking…Buffy grim…

Hollywood in the 30s…Must have been quite a…

"Margaret?..." Will gasped… "But…"

"Think of it as a surrogate pregnancy…Billy Pratt…" Buffy frowned… "Now come on, help me up…"

"Wait!..." Harmony cried…They stared at her, Will engaged in starting to help Buffy rise…

"I'm really confused…" she sighed…

"Daddy!..." Dawn's cry from the doorway…William turning to the wobbly Buffy on his arm who waved a hand as Harmony shook her head…Things were so much easier when all I had to do was tear open throats…

"I was just about to tell you…" Buffy noted…


	3. Chapter 3

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part VII…

Well…Thought Willow, as she stood beside Connor, with Angel and Nina …Harmony allowed by reason of possible thrall necessity to stay inside at what instinctively the others had sensed…And Dawn had demanded, just in case instinct failed…Was a private family moment…

At least I don't have to pick pieces of William out of his…Very nice, from what I can see, she peered in…Condo walls…

A distinct possibility when Dawn burst into my room telling me Buffy had run off after appearing in her bedroom, shoving poor Sarah about while mouthing insanity about "vendettas" and "killing the one who'd killed me and my child"…In Italian and Latin as well as her native Californian, no less…According to the native building super anyway…

And here me, assuring Giles I had "everything" under control after we got Buffy tranquillized and in spell stasis in the archives…Poor kid…Raving like a loon, waving that book and box of papers…

Ok…She sheepishly admitted…I didn't mind a chance to do a little turnabout-is-fair-play, putting her in stasis…But I really thought I'd quenched the spell…And she seemed so much calmer, asking for Dawnie…Telling us the guys who'd spelled her were in Rome…And Dawn might be in danger…

"So you've been on the hunt for three weeks?..." Angel looked at her…She nodded…

"They had her well hidden, wherever their place is…We thought she was still in Rome…Until Dawn read the letters…Then she knew exactly where Buffy was gonna end up…One way or the other…Though it took a while to get someone at your office to give us the address…By the way, I apologize to the nice cleaning lady for the mind control…" Willow sighed…

"Cicely's letters…?"

She nodded… Yeah…

"But who is this… 'Cicely'?..." Nina asked…

"I am…" Buffy, weary voice…On William's arm, emerging from the room…

Dawn, overcoat buttoned, frowned impatiently at the group…

Explanations could surely wait…My brother whom I've never met is about to be sacrificed, people…

"So let me get this straight…" Harmony, providing a supportive arm to Buffy…Attempted to pierce the muddle… "Buffy was Cicely in 1880…And married Will?...And lost him to Drusilla after being tricked into using a vengeance demon to impersonate her and drive him off to protect him…?"

"Halfreck…Yeah…" Dawn nodded… "Could we get moving, please?...I don't want to lose my baby brother again…And Mom's not completely free of those jerks and their crap…"

"Wait…" Nina put up a hand… "How can Will Jr. be your brother if you're the soul of the baby daughter who died with Cicely in 1880…?"

"Simple…" Dawn frowned… "He was born to Buffy's alternate self, Margaret, in the 30's…After she had a little, you know…With Dad's alternate…Human self…"

"Boris Karloff, no less?..." Angel blinked…

"But why didn't Buffy just stay with…Boris?..." Harmony asked…

Hmmn…Well, perhaps a foolish question… But…

"Margaret wasn't fully Buffy…Her soul just traversed with her briefly…Long enough though to pull Daddy's soul to her in a host body and…You know…" Dawn explained… "And naturally Spike and Dru showed up…Probably some kind of weird summoning…"

"Actually we were just trying to get Charlie Chaplin's autograph…" Will noted…

"And all of this was in the Council archives?..." Angel fumed… "All these years, Giles knew this?..."

"Noooo…" Willow shook head emphatically…

Buffy eyeing her…

Ummn…Well… "I'm sure he didn't…He say it was reserved to Inner Council members only…He was just warned to keep an eye on William…er, Spike…"

"And kill him if he managed to latch back on to his wandering soul…" Dawn noted, coolly…

I may go in for a little "vendetta" myself after we get Will Jr. safe…She thought…

"They didn't tell him the details…" Willow tried…

"Great…He'd kill an innocent man without knowing why?..." Dawn glared…

"I'm sure he thought it was for the best…Dawn, it was a rough time…And the First still had hooks in me…" Will noted…

"But if Will Jr was born in the 1930's…?" Nina looked at Willow, then Dawn…

"I…We…Lost him a few months after birth…" Buffy said quietly… "I'd been through a minor bout with death and a transformation…Not good for a developing kid…After little Will died, the Council happily noted I'd faded from Margaret but for a few trace memories…"

"You were 'Boris Karloff'…?" Harmony eyed William…

God…I did Boris Karloff?...Now I'm never gonna be able to watch "The Grinch" again…" 

"I guess…" he sighed… "The memories are a bit scrambled though between Spike and Billy…"

Billy Pratt…The real name…He explained… "Though it does explain some odd dreams I'd been having since the soul returned…"

"Since you won it back…On your own…" Buffy cut in…Firmly, if still a bit wearily…

"No offence, Angel…" she briefly glanced his way…Avoiding a direct look…

"There better not be…" Nina replied, coolly… "'Cause he's as innocent of any wrongdoing here as Will is…"

"Guys…" Willow, hastily…

No need to do anything right now to start any spell tendrils regenerating, please…I already underestimated this thing once…

"But why did they think you'd go after William…?" Connor asked…

"People…" Dawn fumed… "Baby brother…Ritual sacrifice…Lets move!..."

"She's right…" Buffy noted… "Lets…" she started to move…Sagging a bit…

"Lets get you to bed…" Will said… "And then we'll…"

"No…" she waved a hand, pulling away… "I'll be fine… Lets get our boy…"

She staggered a bit then straightened before an anxious Will or Connor next to her could help her… "Come on…Lets put this 'vendetta' on the right foot…"

"Sounds like a plan to me…" Angel nodded, wry smile to her wan one… 

"Thanks…" she nodded… "I'm sorry…Really…"

"If Angelus were here, I'd say, let him have it…" he grinned… "It's ok…Cicely…"

"Just…" Will sighed… "I'm fine…" Buffy patted his arm…

"Though if you want to carry your bride over several thresholds…" she smiled… "I don't believe I ever did have that pleasure…"

He picked her up… "Fine…" Wobbling a bit…

Dad…Dawn, anxious…

"How's about a wheelchair?..." Willow suggested…

"No…Fine…" he groaned a bit… "He's fine…" Buffy nodded, clasping him tightly about the neck…

Put me down as soon as you get to the elevator…she hissed…

With…Pleasure…he whispered back…

"Anyway…They just substituted Spike for Angelus somehow…" Buffy replied to Connor as the group made their way to the elevator, Angel and Harmony mutually standing ready to make a catch if necessary… "His soul was the mate for their ritual, then somehow they used Spike's demon aura to make Will my target…For a little while…It was mainly just rage, I think…They just had to focus it…But that's gone now…"

We hope…The others mentally noted…

William halted in mid-step…Wavering…

"Sweetheart?...Should I…?" Buffy, anxiously…

"I'm a father?...Twice over?..." William blinked…The numbling effects of life-or-death activity having faded…

"With a daughter enrolled at the University of Milan…" Dawn noted proudly…High-fiving Buffy as she still lay cradled in Will's grip…

"But all paid for by the Council…" Buffy hurriedly insisted to Will's staring face… "Really, honey…If I'd known before she was accepted, I'd have pushed for Cambridge, I swear…"


	4. Chapter 4

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part VIII…

"So where would an Italian demon sacrifice a human child for vengeance in the LA area?..." Harmony mused as the group, a bit packed, rode in Angel's car…

"Sorry…But?..." she eyed a frowning Dawn seated on Willow's lap next to her…Will frowning back as well from his seat in front next to Angel…

"No, you're right, Harmony…Willow?..." Buffy, seated on Will's lap, staring back, weary expression…

"Not really a clue, kiddo…" Willow sighed… "If we were in Sunnydale, I'd say near the Hellmouth as possible, but I don't know LA…Angel?..."

"Hard to say…Connor, can you get Lyri on the phone?..." Angel called…

"Wait, kiddo…Here…" Nina handed Connor, embarrassedly fumbling for his phone as he sat on her lap, her phone…

God…Will's daughter, Buffy's sister/daughter next to me and I'm sitting on my stepmommie's lap like a three-year old…

"Thanks, Mom…" he sighed, dialing… "Hey, Lyri?...Yes, things are ok, for now…But we need a little help regarding human sacrifice in LA…Yep, child sacrifice…Yeah, 'fraid so…Not exactly…Ok, yeah, we did lose him but…"

"Who's…?" Buffy hissed to Will…

"Dr. Winifred Illyria Burkle Wyndham-Pryce…Our resident Willow, Jr…"

Giggle from Willow…

"The one who got took by a demon queen?..." Buffy, cautiously…

"Part Illyria, but reformed…Part Winifred…" Will nodded… "But she knows her occult and her science…"

"Wyndham-Pryce?..." Willow asked… "Gee, that's so sweet…I know Fred was kinda gone on Wesley…"

"Took his name…It grounds her, so we agreed…"

"I'm sorry about Wesley…" Dawn spoke up… "If we'd known sooner…I swear I'm never letting anyone from the Council near you guys again…"

"Giles really was only doin' his duty…" Willow tried…

"And we Summers-Walthrops are really so grateful he's so diligent…" Dawn, coldly… "Pity he didn't convince Mom to take me out when he had the chance with Glory…Would really have made the Council's day, I'm sure…"

"Hey?..." Connor, hand to phone… "Yeah, Fred?...Well, the leader is, what?..." he looked to Buffy… "Italian, you said?..."

"Demonic Italian…Old clan from the Roman days…" Angel called back…"But I'm not sure as to species or tribe…"

"Grey-skinned and fond of sweets…" Will noted… "Used a binding and vengeance spell on Buffy…"

"Powerful spell residue…" Willow added…

Connor transmitting the info… "Anything about the aura?..." he asked, in general…

"Transformed human in their past somewhere…" Angel, pondering… "I'd guess before his time though…"

"He stank pretty much of full demon…But I agree on the human ancestry…" Will nodded…

"She says we've gotta narrow it down…" Connor, generally… "There are too many sacrificial sites in the area…"

"They're bound to have left a clue or two…They want me there, if Buffy fails…" Will noted…

"I'm mean with the vendetta nonsense…" he explained to Buffy's look…

If I say what?...

"And let me correct that to '…if they fail with her'…" he added…

"Which they darned well did…" Dawn, firmly…

We hope…Most of the group, including Dawn, did not say…

"Can I talk to her?...Thanks…" Willow took the phone from Connor's proffered hand… "Yeah, Winny…Willow Rosenberg here…Remember, we met when Angel?...Just concentrate a sec…Exactly…Yeah, me too…Say, I'm so sorry about Wes…I really loved him…What?...Sorry, I don't follow…?" she looked to Connor… "She's speaking in some language I don't know, sounds a little…"

"Fred!..." Harmony, squished between Nina/Connor and passenger door, called… "Illyria needs to take a hike…Willow means friend love…"

She gets a little possessive on her Lyri side about Wes…Connor explained to Willow…

"Oh…Right…I get it…" Willow nodded… "Yeah, Fred…Harmony's right…Just friends…No, if you remember I'm gay?...Right…Platonic…Exactly…"

"Could we focus here on my baby, whom I've never held in my physical arms…?" Buffy called…

"Yeah, Fred…Buffy and Will and all of us are really anxious about their kid…Yeah, Will Jr…He's Buffy's too, in an occult way…"

"Nothing occult about it…" Buffy frowned… "I got pregnant in another body when Will's soul was in another body…It was a normal human pregnancy…"

"With reincarnation…" William noted…

"Fine, a little occult about it…" Buffy sighed…

"Wait…Margaret died just before Dru and Spike left…" Will, puzzled…

"Staged…" Buffy sighed again… "Sorry to hurt you and even poor Spike but the boys had to get Margaret out or Dru would've caught on to things and killed her…She transformed a bit, that's all…"

"The boys…?" Harmony asked…

"Her Watcher group…" Buffy nodded…

"Groucho, Chico, and Harpo…?" Will asked…

"The very same…" Buffy grinned…

"The Marx Brothers…?" Angel called… "They were Watchers…?"

"Damned decent ones too…" Will noted… "Good-hearted fellows…And not bad skillwise…They even faced Dru down…"

"Hey, guys?...All great and interesting…" Willow tried, hand on phone… "But…"

"Right, shut up, everyone!...No offense…" Buffy called…

"So, Fred?...Uh-huh…Yeah?...Uh-huh…Hmmn?...You think so?..." Willow…

"Buffy?..." she called… "Would you be willing to risk going under again?..."

"What?..." Will looked back at her…

"Fred thinks it's the only way to find Will Jr. quickly…There are just too many places and we can't trace him that fast even if your Italian demons aren't blocking his aura from detection…"

"In the car?..." Dawn frowned…

"Angel pull over…" Buffy addressed him… "Do it…It'll be fine, Will…" she nodded to William's worried stare… "Willow can restrain me…"

Just don't take anything I may say in Italian or Latin personally…She smiled at him…

"You can restrain her?..." Dawn looked over at Willow…

"Well…"

"Rustic Chivalry…"

Summary: William and his son are plagued by a curse from the recent past…The very recent past…Using a rather ironic tool…

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Normalverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,  
.com...

Part IX…

Uh…Willow sighed as she and the others stood by the side of the local highway where Angel had pulled over…A cement wall just to the side stretching about ten feet and some trees clustered thickly beyond…

"It's ok, Will pulled me out of it before…" Buffy noted…Pat to William's shoulder… "And you'll be here to help…"

"Yeah…" Willow, uncertainly… "But…See, to have you return to the clan leader…I gotta strengthen his hold over you…It's gonna be a leetle together to break afterwards…"

"Please…" Dawn frowned… "This is my mother, the greatest Slayer of all time…And her husband, my dad, the most devoted spouse…"

Thanks, girl…Almost gets me over the coronary shock of "my dad"…Will noted…

"…They can deal…"

"And if she kills me, I'll be back…" Will grinned… "It's my nature to be a pest that way…"

Buffy glaring…William…

"If I kill you, it'll be the other way round…"

"Hey!..." Dawn, annoyed… "I just got my parents back…No way are you two going anywhere till you're both at least 90 in appearance and years with me…"

"You heard our little girl…" Will eyed Buffy… "No suicides…Get it?..."

"Yeah…Just don't get in the way of my stake or some looney vampiress or amulet or anything…Got it?..."

"Good…" he nodded…

"Ok, Fred…" Willow spoke into Connor's phone… "I think she's ready…"

"God, I really ruined this blouse…" Buffy sighed, looking down…

"We'll honeymoon partly in Rome…Say, maybe we could go when Drusilla takes her vows next month…Angel and the rest of us were planning…" Will eyed Buffy's clouded face…

"I don't need a spell to want to do a little vendetta stuff there…" she noted…"Though if it means she spends the rest of her existence in a nunnery, away from you…"

"People…Time's awastin'…" Willow called… "Buffy, I want you to clear your mind and focus solely on how angry you are about William being taken from you…And your children being taken…"

I may be the one who goes all black-eyed…Dawn noted to Will…

Behind me…Nina hissed to Angel… "Right now…"

"In nome della mia famiglia onorata, del mio marito caro e dei bambini, i curses dei dii immortal su voi! Li ucciderò tutti, assassini! Cani! Schiuma di Vile. Tortura ed agonia su voi tutta!"

"Is that Italian?..." Angel asked…Eyeing the squirming Buffy in William's grip as Willow circled round her…

Black eyes definitely back…

"Ow!...Hold her tight there, Will…" Willow dodged a blow, not completely successfully… "The stasis field isn't quite set…"

"Li strapperò membro dal membro!" Buffy screamed, foaming at mouth a bit as Will struggled to hold her… "Strapperò i vostri occhi dai loro zoccoli, inciderò fuori delle vostre membra e le arrostirò, lasciando i vostri torsos alla putrefazione nella sporcizia e sarò mangiato dai ratti!..."

"Ok, one second…Now!..." Willow called to Dawn…

"Mama?...Avenge our house!...Uh…Mama!...Avenge la nostra casa!" Dawn called to Buffy, who stared at her…

"Let her go, Will!..." Willow cried…

Buffy…Standing but rigid as William backed away…She, struggling violently against the stasis field…

"Ok…Fred, she's definitely under the influence and holding in stasis…" Willow told the phone…

"She really looks pissed…" Connor nodded to Dawn…

"I've seen her worse…" Dawn shrugged…

"Will?..." Willow moved to him… "You ready for your acting debut?..."

"As I'll ever be…Unless Angel would like…"

"Not on your life, William…" Nina growled… "No offense, Dawn…"

Dawn frowning…

Right…My innocent dad has to take on the crimes of your husband…Again?...

"Lets not get any bad blood started for real…" Angel whispered to Nina…Clearly recognizing the mutual annoyance between the two ladies…

"LET ME GO!..." Buffy howled… "O li uccido tutti!"

"It's ok, Dawn…" Will insisted… "It's fine…Willow, I'm ready as I'll ever be…"

"Willow!..." Dawn cried, hurrying over…

"If you screw this…I will really be hurt…" stern stare…Willow looking a bit apprehensive…

Ummn…

"She'll do her best, Nibs…" Will, reassuring…Hand on her shoulder…

"Daddy…' she hugged him… "Oh, Daddy, forgive me…"

"Dawn…" he patted her… "I always knew you were someone special in my life…" he smiled at her…She grinning back through tears, releasing him… 

"Me, too…" she nodded… "Be careful, Daddy…And kill every last one of them if they don't give up my brother, please…"

"Don't screw this…" she hissed through gritted teeth to Willow, smiling to William as she stepped back a bit…

Uneasy lies the head that wears the goddess crown…Willow sighed to herself… "Lowering stasis…"

"Back further and down…" Nina hissed to Angel… "Connor!..." she waved him over…

Great…Some way for the guy who took down the Black Thorn Circle to behave…Angel sighed…

"You can play hero any other day with any other foe…" Nina growled… "Now stay down and don't let her see you!..." 

"Mom's right, Dad…" Connor agreed…

Uh… "You might have to hurt her otherwise…"

Now there's a loyal son…Angel grinned…

"Arrggh…." Buffy violently pulled her arms up…Look of triumph in her black eyes…Stake in right hand, tossed…

"Whoa…" Connor gasped…William barely dodging as the stake rammed into and buried itself in a piece of cement wall…Buffy charging, just missing William, her ramming feet smashing against the same wall…

She groaned slightly but on feet, grabbed for the stake, pulling…

"Are you ok, Mom?..." Dawn called… "Dad?...She's not hurt?..."

"Ok, so far…" he called back… "Lets make this quick, Willow!..." he called to the Wiccan…Who turned…

Buffy pulling out stake and a chunk of cement wall in fury… "Vendetta!... Scusi i miei guasti, il mio signore… compirò la mia operazione e prenderò il mio vengeance!" she whirled to face William…Who closed carefully, watching her…

Wham!...Her stake crashed into him…Dust cloud…

"Oh…" she stared…Blinking…Looking round…

"Vendetta?..." she blinked again…Looking at the falling ashes…

Cautiously raising fist in air as she circled round…Hmmn…

"Vendetta!..." A bit more forcefully…

She narrowly eyed the others…

"Don't confront her…Don't even speak to her…Just look a little sad…" Willow, cautious tone…

"Cicely?...Uh…Dawn?..." she looked to Dawn as Buffy eyed her suspiciously…

"Migliore vada dicono al signore Corleone che avete completato la vostra operazione…" Dawn hissed…

"Uh…Cicely?... Migliore…Vado…"

"Vada!...Vada dicono al vostro signore che avete completato la vostro operazione…" Dawn repeated, tersely…

"Right…Vada dicono al signore Corleone che avete completato la vostra operazione…" Willow continued…

"Si…" Buffy nodded…And after a last threatening wave of arms, she scooped up her stake and ran off…

"Corleone?..." Dawn frowned at Willow who shrugged… "It was the only Italian crime lord I could think of…"

"Fine…Lets get after her…"

"Right…Lets…" William stepped out of the cluster of trees… "And nicely done with the teleport, Red…"

"Thanks…" Willow nodded…

Phew…Just barely, actually…

Though no need to mention that to Dawn just now…

"Lets just be clear that one crack about Angel sculking and Buffy won't be the only one on vendetta…" Nina noted quietly to Dawn and Willow, coming up to join them before Angel and Connor…


End file.
